


Push Ahead

by melonbutterfly



Series: Never Cease to Fly [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Tony, Team Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 09:37:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbutterfly/pseuds/melonbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Literally the first thing Tony does when coming back from Asgard is call Pepper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Push Ahead

"Hey, Pep," Tony says awkwardly when she answers the phone. He's never called her private line before; she's generally always available via her company mobile. But he's trying to make a statement here. "How're you?"

"Tony?" She sounds surprised, but not annoyed. "I'm good, thanks. What about you? When did you get back?"

"Uh, just now." Tony leans over on the bed to peer through the open door of his wardrobe, where Loki is unpacking his- oh, who is he kidding, _their_ bag. He isn't surprised about the amount of stuff – mostly clothes, mostly leather, hmm, good – that comes out of it, but he is wondering when Loki managed to put all of it in. Tony was there when they packed – well, when Loki packed, he insists on handling the bag personally. Probably he worries about Tony climbing inside to check all that mysterious extra space out, which, admittedly, not that far-fetched. He really wants to know how it works. "I thought maybe we could meet up, talk. Or something."

Pepper hesitates for a moment; Tony may or may not hold his breath for it. "Yes. We could do that. Yes. When?"

"Whenever? I can do whenever." Maybe that was too eager, but Tony doesn't give a damn. Until now he was busy enough to be able to avoid thinking about the discord between him and Pepper, but things calmed down considerably since the trial two days ago. Left abruptly without anything big to worry about – not Loki, not Odin, not the Chitauri, Thanos, Jötunheimr, not _anything_ , and wow, that shouldn't feel so weird – he'd had more than enough time to remember the other stuff that was yet unfinished. Such as his fight with Pepper, or the continuing tension between him and Rhodey, or SHIELD. He doesn't really remember having gotten into a fight with SHIELD lately but he's sure there must be something they're pissed at each other about. Also, other stuff. He and Loki got married and there's bound to be some fall-out once the public find out and they're bound to, sooner rather than later. Privacy and Tony Stark do not have a close relationship.

"Okay," Pepper says. "It's Sunday. Want to meet for coffee later? Around three?"

"Sure, great," Tony babbles. "I can do that, yes. Where?"

"Wherever your custom coffee machine is," she replies, dryly amused. "Otherwise you'll just whine that yours is way better."

Yeah, okay, that's true. But seriously, his machine and his coffee are perfect and individual and the best of the best. "The tower, then."

"Okay, see you then," Pepper says and hangs up.

"Did she sound annoyed to you?" Tony immediately asks. "She sounded annoyed, didn't she?"

"Sir," JARVIS says very dryly. "Please rethink the last seven seconds and then tell me what you wish for me to do."

Tony does and then nearly throws himself off the bed in humiliation. He sounded like a teenager fretting about his crush. _What does that even mean, see you later?_ Dear god. "Delete from memory."

"I thought as much," JARVIS has the audacity to say, making Tony grin wildly. Sassy bastard.

Letting himself fall back on the bed, Tony stretches his arms over his head. "I love you, Jarv."

"Should I be jealous?" Loki asks pointedly from the doorway.

"Nah." Rolling to his side and reaching out, Tony takes Loki's hand and pulls him onto the bed with him. "Even if JARVIS had a body, there'd be all sorts of weird connotations because I played a big part in his creation and all that."

Loki raises an eyebrow and leans over to kiss Tony. "Just a big part? Who did the rest?"

"Why, JARVIS, of course." Tony copies Loki's expression and raises an eyebrow. He also reaches out and palms Loki's ass, because it's within reach and delicious and who wouldn't touch it frequently if they could? "Once he existed, he of course had a huge input in any changes made to his programming."

"That does make sense," Loki murmurs against Tony's mouth.

Tony hums, not interested in discussing this any further right now, and tilts his chin up, turning the lazy slide of their lips into more of a kiss. Immediately, Loki opens his mouth to his probing tongue, shifting further on top of him and cupping Tony's face with one hand. Just when things are about to heat up properly there's a knock on the door.

"Mr. Rogers for you, sir," JARVIS announces.

With a regretful groan Tony wrenches his mouth from Loki's and whines. "What does he want?"

Instead of replying, JARVIS activates the intercom and Steve's voice fills the room. "Tony? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Steve, hey. What's up?" Lust-addled thoughts slowly clearing, Tony slides his fingers into Loki's hair and grimaces. There probably won't be any funtimes now.

"JARVIS told us you're back, how did it go?" Steve asks and yeah, Tony was right. So much for that.

After sharing a resigned look with his husband, Tony pecks Loki on the lips and then they both get up. Tony opens the bedroom door and smiles at Steve. "Hey. Everything's good. How've you been?"

Flushing a little, Steve ducks his head. "Er, good. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

Tony doesn't get it; he frowns and is about to ask but at that moment Loki comes up behind him and runs his hand through Tony's hair, smoothening it down. Clearly it got messed up enough during their brief stint on the bed for Steve to be able to clearly tell what they've been doing.

Unrepentant, Tony shrugs and grins at Steve. "It happens. Where are the others?"

"Kitchen," Steve replies, cheeks still a little red.

"Oh, brilliant." Snatching Loki's hand, Tony heads towards the kitchen. "I'm craving some serious caffeine, I haven't had proper coffee in far too long."

"Two weeks isn't that long, you addict," Clint says just as Tony enters the kitchen. He, Natasha and Bruce are sitting around the table, Natasha and Bruce nursing their own cups while Clint is shoveling big spoonfuls of pudding into his mouth.

"Says you," Tony returns, making a beeline for the coffeemaker. "Coffee, babe?"

"Yes please," Loki and Clint say at the same time. When Loki raises an eyebrow at him Clint shrugs unrepentantly and smiles innocently.

"So, how have you two been?" Bruce asks.

"Good," Tony replies, looking through the cupboards for the honey he knows Loki will want in a minute. Come to think of it, maybe Loki would rather have tea, he hadn't been overly impressed with coffee the last time he'd tried it. It's a good thing because the machine only makes two cups at once.

"Thank you," Bruce says very dryly. "What actually happened? You never really said what's going on."

Tony glances over his shoulder at Loki and raises an eyebrow, leaving it at him to decide what and how much to tell them.

"There were some… issues left to clear up," Loki explains after a brief pause. "Concerning the circumstances of my leaving Asgard. I do not wish to discuss this any further at this point."

"Fair enough," Bruce grants. "But it went well, I take it, that's good – and all we wanted to know."

"Yes," Clint agrees. "I mean of course we're all dying to know what really went on and all the secrecy isn't making it better, but I will shut up now." He shrinks away from Natasha. "So, hey! Uh. How was Asgard? And I mean that in terms of. Not Earth."

"Pretty cool." Tony grins. "Though everything's pretty golden and they're definitely lacking electricity and coffee." He takes the three cups he's just made and puts them on the table, pushing the tea over to where Loki is sitting with a "here, darling", then pushing Clint's cup over to him with a "here, sweetheart".

"Thanks, babe," Clint says with a cheeky grin. Loki just glances at Tony regally and takes a sip of his tea. His eyebrows fly up when he finds it's already been sweetened and he quirks his lips appreciatively.

"So, how've you guys been?" Tony asks, squeezing himself into the space between Loki and Bruce's bar stools. Maybe he should invest in a breakfast nook, it's less stylish than a bar but it has more space, and they're enough people now to warrant that. And now that he thinks about it, he's surprised that the others are still here, he would have thought they would have left. But they didn't; they apparently even waited for Tony and Loki's return. As he looks around the table, Tony can't suppress a shy smile; he ducks his head to hide it a little.

"Good," Steve says. "Busy. There was a lot of public relations to take care of, and Fury wanted for you to let him know when you're back."

Yeah, JARVIS already told him that there was a bunch of stuff waiting in his inbox. Tony really isn't feeling up to it right now. The fight with Pepper bothers him a lot more than anything else and he wants to fix it. He doesn't know if he can or how – or even what it is they're actually fighting about – but he's going to try.

"There was a huge public backslash," Natasha adds.

Tony blinks. "Because of the invasion? Yeah, I know." He hadn't really cared to get involved during the one week he had with Loki, but it had been impossible to miss the drama. Especially considering how he'd predicted it would happen, which is why he'd told them to tell the public. They had ignored him.

"That," Natasha nods, but she isn't done yet. "Aliens – by which they mean the Chitauri – existing. There's a huge fuss about Thor and Loki, though, Norway didn't exactly keep quiet about their citizenship status, the other Scandinavian countries are varying degrees of offended." She raises an eyebrow. "And then there's the part where you married a Norse god. People are very interested in that."

"Oh, god." Tony lets his head drop to the table. He's annoyed with himself for being surprised; of course they'd find out. "Great."

"What does that mean?" Loki asks, putting a hand on Tony's back, right between his shoulder blades.

"Fuss," Tony replies, raising his head again. Where is his coffee? He needs his coffee. His cup is only half full anymore and it scalds his tongue when he drinks it all but both the heat and the taste are comforting. "Interviews. I bet they're very worked up right now, considering there hasn't been any word from me, Loki or Thor, right?"

"Oh, yes," Clint confirms with relish. "It's hilarious, they're coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories."

Great. He's vaguely surprised that Pepper hasn't said a word about it, but she probably left him a message or something – and anyway, she hasn't been his personal assistant in a while, Tony finally needs to get that into his head. It was a good idea and she's doing great as his CEO. He should just learn to deal with it and get a new personal assistant to take care of this sort of stuff for him; Pepper can't and clearly won't do it any longer.

"There was a sort of press release on your website though," Bruce tells him, patting his elbow comfortingly. "You were on your honeymoon, apparently. So there is at least a reasonable explanation for your absence."

Well, that's at least something. Tony sighs and leans against Loki, who wordlessly offers his cup of tea so Tony can take a sip. It's not coffee and there's honey in it but it's better than having to get another cup of coffee; also, well. Tony really likes how naturally Loki just handed his own cup over, like this is a thing they do, share stuff. Though, come to think of it… it is. They've shared homes, beds, even clothes; food isn't that far-fetched, really.

"So." Bruce raises an eyebrow. "Do you have any plans?"

"No!" Tony yells, pumping his fist in the air and making everybody jump in the process. "Because ev-er-y-thing is taken care of!"

"Well," Loki says.

"No." Tony points at him. "Yes, but no. Today, no."

"That is sort of moot, considering you have your- how did you put it? Serious business heart to heart with Pepper."

Tony opens his mouth to argue but Loki does have a point. With a sigh he slumps and pushes his lower limp forwards.

Rolling his eyes, Loki turns to their friends again, but his hand settles warmly in the back of Tony's neck, belying the dismissal. "There are no long-term plans as of yet, and the short-term plans that have been loosely made primarily tie up the events of the past weeks." He raises an eyebrow. "What about you?"

Abruptly remembering Bruce's status as homeless wanderer and the fact that both Clint and Natasha are technically SHIELD agents and thus have jobs already, Tony does his best not to tense up. He presses into Loki's side and wraps one arm around his waist. "You should, you know, stay here," he says before anybody can answer Loki's question. "The tower is still sort of under construction, you have complete input as to what goes on your floors."

"Floors?" Clint repeats, raising an eyebrow.

Tony raises his back. "Yeah. You didn't think I'd keep you forever on the guest floor, right? It wasn't meant to be anything but short-term while the rest is being fleshed out. I was thinking, one floor each, three floors for science, one floor for magic, one floor for that stuff you do to keep your muscles, one floor guests. What do you think?"

They're staring at him; Tony only hopes it's the good sort of staring and not the kind that means "oh, god, what the bloody hell did I get involved in here, shit that guy is clingy he has _issues_ ". He isn't entirely unfamiliar with that, unfortunately.

"Wait," Natasha says, sounding stunned. "With one floor each, you mean one per person?"

"Yeah, I mean, unless you wanna share." Tony furrows his brows thoughtfully. "Thor might want to with Jane, if those two ever get their act together."

"I can share with Phil?" Clint asks.

"I thought his first name was Agent," Tony returns, suppressing a grin. "Yeah, I mean, it's your floor, you can do with it what you want. We'll have to put some security measures in place, that much is inevitable, but other than that, go wild."

"That's my cue," Bruce says quietly. "What about the other guy?"

Tony frowns. "You want him to have his own floor?"

"Tony."

"Bruce." Tony straightens, cursing the height difference caused by the bar stools (not his natural height, damn it!). "I'm not scared of the Hulk, okay? He's saved my life a number of times and I know you don't remember it, but I do. I can't be scared of him. Yeah, I know you can't control him, and I am worried about the damage he can cause, but please. I can replace anything except for lives, and I think that if we work together, we can ensure he'll be safely contained – and who knows, letting him out to play every now and then might do wonders on his general mood, right?"

"I don't believe that," Bruce says.

"A part of you does, or you wouldn't still be here," Tony replies quietly. "Come on, give it a chance – who knows what the two of us can do together? If it doesn't work out you can still leave."

For a moment Bruce just looks at him. "Do you know," he then says, "that you are the first person who looked at me without seeing him? It's really ironic, considering how often you talk about him."

"Okay." That's a good thing, right? But Tony doesn't get it, how can people not _see_ Bruce? He's incredibly smart (this, coming from Tony, really means something) and unbelievably calm and gentle on top of it all, it's quite amazing, really.

Bruce's mouth tilts up. "I'm trying to say that I'm staying."

Yes! Holding back on the fistpump, Tony grins widely. "Awesome. This'll be brilliant, wait till I show you with what you can equip your lab, there's a lot of stuff with patent pending that we have access to." Also, hah, Bruce has been away for a while, a lot of stuff has happened in the scientific world since he left. It's going to blow his mind.

"My own lab?" Bruce repeats. "Tony, not that I don't appreciate it, but you're being incredibly generous."

"Yes," Steve involves himself. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Steve." Tony leans in. "I wasn't joking when I said I'm a billionaire. Do you know how much I earned in the last calendar year? Approximately two point nine billion dollar. That's me, personally, not my company, and just how much I've earned, not how much I already had. I have more money than I could ever possibly spend, especially considering that money tends to breed. What else do you suggest I do with it?"

Tony will never know what kind of suggestions Steve could come up with, because Steve is staring at him, completely mute. The others too look sort of shocked – excepting Loki, who probably doesn't understand the numbers and even if he did, might not be impressed much, considering his status and how he grew up.

"Fucking hell," Clint eventually mutters. "Can I have a plane?"

"Maybe for your birthday," Tony returns, raising an eyebrow, "if you're a good boy and eat all your vegetables."

It's not really funny but everybody laughs, dispersing the tension. Nobody mentions again Tony's apparent generosity, and when they start planning their floors they aren't shy or modest about what they want; just the way Tony likes it.

As his appointment with Pepper grows nearer – he can't think of it as anything else, try as he might – Tony's good mood makes way for tension. Quickly noticing this, Loki provides Tony with an excuse (apparently they need to finish unpacking) and takes him back to the bedroom, where they proceed to finish what Steve interrupted. It does help make Tony feel better and anyway, Loki is so thorough Tony doesn't have much time to fret anymore; he barely manages to shower and get dressed in time before JARVIS announces Pepper's arrival.

The others have either taken a hint or found their own stuff to do, because the penthouse is empty (except for Loki, who says he has "things to do" in the bedroom – Tony is both dying of curiosity and has the suspicion that he does not really want to know). Pepper is nice and makes smalltalk, asking how he's been, how Asgard was, how the trial went, and in general acts like they never had a fight. It's the exact same way she behaved after the kiss, and back then Tony had let it slide; he's not going to do that now. He wants to salvage some sort of relationship with Pepper out of this (whatever _this_ is) and he thinks for that they need to talk, as little as he wants to actually have that talk.

"Pepper," he says, interrupting himself mid-sentence where he went off on a tangent about Asgard's frankly worrying obsession with gold. "Can we, you know… talk? About what we fought about?"

Her smile fades. "What is there to talk about, Tony? We clearly don't agree and there is no way we ever will, not considering that you actually went and did it."

"Did what? Get married?" Tony frowns. "Is it really that much of a problem for you? And I don't even understand what exactly that problem is either."

Pepper draws a breath and lets it out slowly, frowning. "It's… Tony, marriage is very important to me. I mean you've always been like that – you want something, you get it, and there aren't many things that can stop you, but-"

"Hold on, hold on!" Tony interrupts. "Jesus fuck, Pepper. You make it sound like I'm some sort of tyrant!"

"You're not," she immediately says, "but sometimes you behave like one. I know that there are things you would never do, but sometimes… sometimes it scares me how little you care."

Feeling vaguely nauseous, Tony swallows. "What… what exactly does that mean?"

With a wince, Pepper reaches across the table to take his hand. Tony sort of wants to pull it away but doesn't, in the end. Her voice is gentle but her words are less so. "I don't know yet what it means, Tony. I just really, really don't like how carelessly you've treated something so important to me."

That really, really doesn't sound like anything Tony can fix. But maybe that's just because he doesn't really understand it yet? "What exactly is your problem with my marriage?" He knows Pepper is not homophobic so that can't be it.

"It's not your marriage itself, it's _why_ you got married." Leaning back, Pepper lets go of his hand, frowning down at the table. "Marriage is important to me. It means that you've found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, and making that visible for everyone."

Tony frowns. "But Pepper. To even get the chance to spend the rest of my life with Loki, I had to first make sure that he'd be _alive_ for it." And yeah, he doesn't know and likely never will if their marriage ever played any part in any of Odin's considerations, but he doesn't regret marrying Loki. Actually, thinking about it… it sends a thrill through his body, knowing that he and Loki are connected that way officially. Yeah, they might not have started out with true love until death do us apart but they definitely have something, and Tony likes that other people know it. Loki is hot as hell and pretty exciting in more than one way; he's quite the catch. It's pretty brilliant that others know that Tony is the one who caught him.

Pepper blinks at him, brows furrowed in puzzlement. "Tony. Do you _want_ to spend the rest of your life with Loki?"

"Who can even know that sort of thing?" Tony replies. "Who knows where I'll be in ten years. I can't possibly know that."

"You can't know if you will," she says patiently, "but you can know if you _want_ to."

Looking down at the table, Tony thinks about it. He already knows the answer, but… he's never been one for that sort of emotional stuff.

"Tony?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugs, still staring at the table. What does she want for him to say? Some sort of Disney speech about how much Loki means to him and how much he changed his life and how he's made Tony a better person? He hasn't. Tony isn't a good person, that's just the way it is, and there isn't anyone or anything that could make him better. He doesn't think any of that other stuff he hears means love either, that he's not good enough for Loki – maybe he isn't, but Loki doesn't need him, not anymore, and he's clearly here out of his own free will. And he wouldn't die without Loki there either, please. Maybe he wouldn't be thrilled about it, but he'd knuckle down and deal, just as he's always done.

He really doesn't know about anything like that. All he knows is that Loki is brilliant, with a razor sharp tongue and brain, badass skills as a fighter and a fuckton of issues and imperfections that make him a bit of a minefield, but of the thrilling kind.

"Oh," Pepper makes. At her tone of voice Tony can't help but look up; she looks utterly surprised. Apparently that's a common theme today, Tony rendering people speechless. "Oh, Tony." She reaches out again and takes his hand. "I'm sorry."

Shifting, Tony glances around the room, hella comfortable with where this is going even if he hasn't any idea where that might be. "About what?"

"It seems I misunderstood you," Pepper says. "Granted, you're pretty bad at explaining yourself, but I've had years of practice, I should have realized."

"Pepper, I have no idea what you are talking about." And he's starting to hope for a rescue from this conversation. Maybe he could get away with claiming to have to unpack again?

Thoughtfully, Pepper gazes at him. "You know, I think that's actually true." Suddenly, she smiles. "I'm looking forward to when you figure it out. You're welcome to come talk to me when that happens."

Could she get any more mysterious? And Tony hopes she knows how disconcerting that sphinx smile she's wearing right now is. "Can you please just tell me what that means?"

"It means I'm not angry at you anymore, Tony," she says softly. But it's what she says next that reassures Tony that they're okay – or at least getting there. "Now, why don't you introduce me to Loki? I'd like to meet them."

Unable to suppress the wild grin overtaking him, Tony gets up and strides off to fetch Loki. He's not in the bedroom, surprisingly, considering that that's where he said he'd be. "Loki?"

"In here."

When Tony gets to the wardrobe, he finds Loki staring at one of the shelves, one hand on his hip and frowning thoughtfully. It's his own shelf he's standing in front of, Tony realizes, but it's clearly far too little space to contain everything Loki has brought. "I will get my own floor as well, yes?"

"Sure, if you wanna," Tony says easily, leaning in the doorway. "Or we could just rebuild this one. We don't need a guest bedroom, we can function it into a wardrobe for you. You'll have your own labspace as well – the floor for magical research is yours, basically, and if you ever want something sciency we can take care of it then."

Deep in thought, Loki hums in vague agreement and nods slowly. After a moment of deliberation he turns and looks at Tony. "Will our floor always be the one everybody congregates on? Because to be honest I'd prefer some privacy out of the bedroom every now and then."

Tony frowns thoughtfully. "You mean, make one floor the common area? Sounds good actually. Yeah, I think we'll do that."

"Good." Loki nods again, apparently closing the subject, and turns fully towards Tony. "How did your conversation with Pepper go? By your expression I would say well."

"Right on, darling." Grinning again, Tony walks over to Loki and pulls him into a sort of short-ish kiss. Ish. Hey, he's not completely breathless when they pull apart, that's what's important, right? "She wants to meet you, actually, if you're up for it?"

Loki nods abruptly. "Of course. You mention her often and I have yet to meet her."

Wow, that's actually true, even in the loopy sense. "About time then!" Not wasting any time, they walk into the kitchen. Pepper smiles when she sees Loki, slips off her stool – far more elegantly than Tony ever could, damn those long-legged people – and offers her hand before Tony can do introductions. "Hey, I'm Pepper, it's nice to meet you."

Loki inclines his head and takes her hand. "Loki. The pleasure is all mine."

They all sit down – well, Loki and Pepper sit down, Tony puts himself in charge of getting the next round of coffee plus tea for Loki. Which doesn't at all mean he doesn't listen in unashamedly as Pepper and Loki talk.

"Congratulations on taming that one," is the first thing Pepper says, gesturing towards Tony. It's a difficult task and I commend your stamina."

Loki grins, surprisingly honest. "I am honestly not sure there was much taming involved, on either of our parts."

"Oh, there was," Pepper assures him, voice turning soft with her next words. "It's been very long – to be honest, I can't even remember if it ever happened – since I've seen Tony so content."

That actually makes Loki flush. He's not the only one, but Tony at least can pretend he didn't hear over the racket the coffee machine makes, not that he believes for one second that they're fooled. "I submit to your superior knowledge, then," Loki says with a slight smile, nothing sardonic in his expression at all.

Now, this is starting to sound a lot like flirting. Abruptly Tony's mind is filled with ideas for threesomes; god, that'd be hot, Loki and Pepper both… it's been a long time since he fantasized about Pepper (the whole mess of emotions after the kiss made that thoroughly unenjoyable) but he's fully aboard with that idea. He'd even take just watching; the two of them would be so hot together, all slim, long limbs, fiery red hair tangling with Loki's jet black…

"Tony?"

Startled and a little flustered, Tony turns around to find Loki and Pepper staring at him with similar expressions and raised eyebrows. "Are we getting that coffee anytime soon?" Pepper prompts.

"If you let the tea steep for too long you may drink it yourself, for I shall not," Loki adds.

Tony abruptly realizes that the world is not ready for Loki and Pepper getting along. He certainly isn't.

**Author's Note:**

> I got the figures for Tony's income from [Forbes Fictional 15](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_Fictional_15). Meaning that yes, he really did earn that much money in 2012.


End file.
